Libyan Civil War: Qatar Denies Supplying Rebels With Planes, Ammunition

The government of Qatar slammed accusations by Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni that it supplied military planes packed with weapons to a Libyan opposition group that controls an airport in Tripoli. Qatari Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Rumaihi called the claims “misleading and unfounded.”

“The policy of the state of Qatar is based on clear and consistent foundations: mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries,” al-Rumaihi said in a statement sent to the Qatar News Agency.

Al-Jazeera reported Monday that al-Thinni claimed three military planes were sent from Qatar to opposition forces in Libya. The Libyan prime minister said he was thinking of breaking off relations with Qatar “if this interference into Libya’s internal affairs continued.”

“We confirm that we have official reports that these war planes carried weapons and ammunition," he told Al-Jazeera. "What does Qatar want to give to the Libyan people?"

Qatar helped fund rebels who overtook Libya from the late Moammar Gadhafi during a civil war in 2011, according to the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation. Another civil war between government and Islamist forces erupted this year.